Other statehood demands delaying T decision: Shinde

Anita Saluja New Delhi: Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has stated that the twin blasts in Hyderabad would have no impact on the Telangana issue. "It is a separate issue and negotiations are going on," he remarked. Explaining the gaffe on his fixing the timeframe of 30 days on taking a decision on Telangana, he said that what he had actually meant was that he would submit the report within one month and this is what he did. He has submitted the report on Telangana to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, on the basis of which consultations are taking place. He said that the issue was being discussed and the delay in taking a decision was due to the separate statehood demands from other regions as well, that included Vidarbha. On the Dilsukhnagar probe, Shinde said, "There is some progress," though he did not divulge the details, as it would hamper further investigations. He informed that the note on setting up National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) was ready and it would be sent to the cabinet shortly. He had no reservations on calling yet another meeting of the Chief Ministers on NCTC, but felt that since their main objections were being addressed with regard to search, seizures and arrests, they should have no reasons to complain. Almost all the non-Congress Chief Ministers, including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik have opposed the formation of NCTC, on the plea that it would curtail the powers of the States. Their main objection is with regard to keeping the proposed anti-terror body within the ambit of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) that is virtually tantamount to the infringement of their powers. The States had also accused the Centre of trying to spy on them, the reason why they did not want NCTC to be within the ambit of the IB. Their second objection is on carrying out operations without keeping the State police chief in the loop. The fresh draft note on the formation of NCTC, incorporating the main demands of the non-Congress Chief Ministers, is ready and it would be placed before the Cabinet. The Home Minister was evasive on the action being taken against JKLF leader Yasin Malik, who is believed to have shared platform with the Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) Chief and 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Hafiz Saeed in Islamabad. Asked whether his passport would be seized, Shinde stated appropriate action will be taken at an appropriate time.